VIPER CENTRAL – THUMP & HOWL

2012 – Diego and Lola Records

4.5**** This tremendous six piece band are proof that you have to be very careful when trying to put artists into a particular generic field. The first time I ever read anything about them they were described as a bluegrass band. Whilst I do enjoy some bluegrass, much of it seems to be made up of speedy instrumental histrionics that qualatively seems to get a higher rating the faster they play and the higher the singing. O.k, I know this is a huge over simplification that probably says more about me than this esteemed genre, but that is an impression I sometimes get. Describing Viper Central as a bluegrass band is like describing Frank Sinatra as a singer. There is so much more to this hugely talented group of roots musicians that come to their music from a diversity of musical backgrounds and which they have successfully blended into their own highly individual style. They hail from Vancouver, Canada, a country that over the last five decades seems to have produced an ever growing number of incredibly talented and usually quite original bands and solo artists, with the Vipers being no exception, other than the fact that talent wise they are in the upper echelons. The band consists of Steve Charles on guitar and vocals, Kathleen Nisbet, fiddle and vocals, Mark Vaughan, mandolin, Tyler Rudolph, banjo and vocals, Tim Tweedale, dobro, lap and pedal steel and vocals and Lorraine Cobb on guitar and vocals. All are experienced musicians, not only in the genre they choose to record in, but a myriad of other styles, as can be evidenced by the confidence and attack they show in this series of fourteen songs and instrumentals. Most of the band members have a hand in the writing of the songs plus there are a couple of traditional fiddle tunes as well as a couple of band written instrumentalsand a gorgeous version of Bill Monroe’s The One I Love Is Gone. Stylistically it is probably easiest to say they play string band or bluegrass music, but there are also strong elements of old timey, traditional country, even at times having a strong western swing feel, a genuine mix of most sub genres within‘Country music!’ The singing is always strong and atmospheric with most lead vocals being taken by Kathleen Nisbet, whose versatility and mastery of ballads or uptempo songs shows up particularly well, and with the band harmonies always being excellent and having an appealing, slightly discordant edge rather than the cloying perfection of some bands. Album opener, the Kathleen Nisbet penned and sung Saskatchewan kicks off with a western swing style fiddle introduction then in comes Kathleen with a slightly laconic sounding vocal backed up by steel guitar and some tremendous harmonies. This is followed by the Steve Charles written Come ‘round, on which he takes lead vocal on a song that is almost a throwback to some great old timey music with tremendous edgy harmonies, with banjo, mandolin and dobro driving the song along. Tyler Rudolph’s tremendous instrumental Redwolf starts with the gorgeous sound of his dobro and then shows the expertise of the remainder of the band with breaks for guitar, mandolin, banjo and fiddle all being propelled by the thump of a double bass. There is a slow moody ‘hanging song’ in Hanging Ground on which Kathleen’s vocals have an almost jazzy, blues feel and on The One I Love Is Gone Lorraine Cobb has her only lead vocal on this album. Her beautiful mournful vocals and the dobro and strummed guitar on this lovely song gives this tremendous album yet more diversity with a gorgeous tale of lost love. This contrasts brilliantly with the preceeding Captain a song that really does conjure up the hillbillies of old with Kathleens lead and the keening female harmonies plus fiddle, banjo, mandolin and guitar on a song that is easy to imagine being played at an old Appalachian hoe down! Not only do this tremendous band at times evoke the high lonesomeness of old time music but there is also a feeling of wide open spaces, probably due to the geography of their homeland and the warmth and drive of their music makes it obvious they are enjoying themselves as much as the listener is, which certainly in my case, is a huge amount!